are there any tricks to capture a likeness? Im pretty pleased with this statue but it does not look like the reference (lost the ref, but if somone recognises it I'd like to try again.
proportions
>>7829023This is true technically but keep in mind that you can still maintain likeness while messing with the proportions - caricaturists take that to the extreme. With photos we are relying heavily on copying accurate proportions and to be fair we will always succeed as long as it is accurate. I think it is important to identify the characteristics of a face and maybe even amplify them. Mindlessly copied proportions will result in a correct drawing but in a stiff and soulless portrait. Thank you for reading my Ted talk.
>>7829182Ive always struggled with this, when doing life drawing or these kinds of studies am I supposed to be focused solely on observation and capturing what I see, or am I supposed to take what I see and break it down into objects and create a repeatable pattern for doing this on my own without the ref but focusing less on observation
By measuring and nailing angles. Also the abstract shape something makes.
share orginal picrel annon
nvm found it
it mostly porportion anon its best to have thumbnail view on study like this if accuracy is the goal
>>7829018Draw from memory.
>>7829018Not so much a trick as it is a general recommendation - do studies of "interesting" looking people, with an expression. If you only study people with the smoothest skin, most pleasing proportions, and the most stoic expressions, then it'll be difficult for you to pick up on which areas of likeness you need to work on most.Capturing likeness without accuracy is something people on /ic/ may meme as "soul". It's not wrong per se, it's just a catch all word for every other quality we value in a portrait. There are areas of the face we tend to focus on, out of the ordinary features that make a person memorable, and the mental state betrayed by the expression. If you pick a subject devoid of those qualities, then we are forced to judge your work solely on accuracy.Think of it this way. If I were to ask you to draw Anya Taylor Joy from memory or as a cartoon, what is the one thing you need to get right about it?
When people say “capture the likeness” they usually mean the ability to draw from observation without bringing existing knowledge into the drawing, and to focus only on what is actually seen: angles, lines, shapes.Portraits lose their likeness when the artist doesnt really manage to observe the face and instead projects existing knowledge onto it. At that point construction schemes (Loomis) replace observation. The artist is no longer responding to the specific face in front of them, but to an internal idea of how a face is supposed to be built.When you approach drawing the eye, the moment you think you are drawing an eye, something already went wrong. Your brain immediately produces an image of an eye, and you stop seeing the actual shape in front of you. You are no longer observing, you are projecting. Ideally you don’t even know what you are drawing. Edwin Dickinson said that when he was drawing, he no longer knew what the model was.Even artists who draw very well, but mainly studied constructional approaches, often lose the likeness. The drawing may look impressive and professional, yet it feels generic, almost like AI art. The artist carries an internal library of noses, eyes, and mouths, and simply transplants that knowledge onto the paper. Construction becomes similar to a prompt.Despite what many people think, if your goal is to work from observation, there is no real need to study anatomy or construction methods. What matters is the ability to observe. Artists like Antonio López García learned to observe carefully over long periods of time, while resisting images produced by memory, imagination, and habit.
>>7830653>When people say “capture the likeness” they usually mean the ability to draw from observation without bringing existing knowledge into the drawing, and to focus only on what is actually seen: angles, lines, shapes.That is not what I (OP) meant.
>>7830653So do you draw, or do you just read about how other people draw?
https://warosu.org/ic/thread/4807632https://warosu.org/ic/thread/6992168https://warosu.org/ic/thread/6834728Relevant reading.
>>7830807No it's not anon. Please
Well I've made some progress, but it still falls apart as I render more.
Should I bother trying more normal proportions or lean into my wierd babyface?
>>7829018Focusing on the general shape of the face, of the hair and of the features. Proportions are important and all but if the shapes are not close enough, it will look off
